Stephen Morais, who was described by a defense expert during a hearing as autistic, was arrested in May 2009 after police with a search warrant found about 8,200 images of child pornography on several computers and thumb drives in his home. Officers searched the residence after receiving a tip on a child abuse hotline that Morais had been using his cell phone to take photographs of naked children.

A grand jury later indicted Morais on five counts of receiving child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. He pleaded guilty to two counts of receiving child pornography. Along with the federal prison sentence and a lifetime of supervised release, he also was fined $15,000.

Morais has college degrees in math and physics, served in Iraq and Kosovo while in the U.S. Army Reserves and once worked as a part-time math instructor at the University of Arkansas.

In his appeal, he argued his prison sentence and fine, along with a condition that his Internet access be restricted after he completes his sentence, were unreasonable.

A panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis unanimously rejected the appeal Tuesday.

"Given Morais' use of the Internet to obtain thousands of images of child pornography, a condition limiting his Internet access is reasonably related to the statutory purposes of deterrence and protecting the public," the court said, adding that the trial judge did not abuse his discretion when setting the fine.